1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clamps, and more particularly pertains to a clamp for installing cosmetic drawer fronts on the face of a slidable drawer mounted within a cabinet or other enclosing structure. Because of the close fit between the cabinet and the drawer, conventional C-clamps cannot be utilized to secure the cosmetic front on the drawer face and still allow closure of the drawer. Conventionally, a cabinet maker must hold the cosmetic drawer front by hand or other means during alignment until the drawer is opened sufficiently to install a conventional clamp. This results in frequent misalignment of the cosmetic drawer front on the drawer face and the expenditure of a large amount of time in achieving proper alignment. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention provides a specially constructed clamp which remains installed while the drawer is closed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of clamps are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a clamp is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,583, which issued to J. O'Connor on Aug. 12, 1952. This patent discloses a clamping fixture having threadably adjustable clamping jaws disposed at right angles. U.S. Pat. No. 2,627,113, which issued to J. Moray on Feb. 3, 1953, discloses a dental inlay clamp having a fixed clamping jaw coaxially disposed with a first threaded clamping jaw and a second transverse threaded clamping jaw. The second clamping jaw is mounted for lateral adjustment along the clamp body. U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,316, which issued to D. Driscoll on Jan. 27, 1976, discloses a C-clamp having aligned threaded clamping jaws. The clamp body is formed by adjustably interconnected sections. U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,202, which issued to J. Kincaid on June 6, 1978, discloses a cabinet door mounting clamp for holding cabinet doors while they are being mounted by hinges. The clamp includes a pair of threaded clamping jaws disposed at right angles and an offset sheet metal clamp body for insertion between a closed cabinet door and a cabinet frame. U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,176, which issued to O. Goff et al on Nov. 18, 1980, discloses a quick release clamp having a generally C-shaped clamp body and including a first pair of aligned threaded clamping jaws and a single perpendicular threaded alignment abutment staff.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to various forms of adjustable clamps, none of these devices allow a cosmetic drawer front to be installed and aligned while allowing closure of the drawer in a cabinet. Additionally, none of the prior art clamps allow precise regulation of the position of a cosmetic drawer front with a cabinet top or adjacent drawer face. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of clamps, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such clamps, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.